FEATURED ARTICLE JULY 2009
At the impressionable age of eight, Marvin Laster became a member of the Boys & Girls Club in his hometown, Albany, GA. The popular neighborhood hangout gave him a safe haven from the lures of the streets. With some 4,300 Clubs worldwide, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) makes sure that children who might otherwise be at home after school with no supervision, have a place to go and something productive to do. Academy-Award-winning actor Denzel Washington has often given credit to the club in his old Mount Vernon, NY, neighborhood for keeping him on the straight and narrow during his youth.
“Much of the success that I have achieved I attribute to lessons learned within the club,” says Laster, who’s also enjoyed a life-long relationship with Atlanta-based BGCA. Though he learned a great deal from the older staff back in the day, he received perhaps his most valuable ‘take-away’ from a friend named Shawn Luke, who had a disability. As the two boys played pool and other games at the club, their differences disappeared.
“He taught me acceptance,” Laster says. Now, as director of diversity for BGCA, he helps to make sure that message is imparted not only throughout the organization, but also beyond.
To institute its diversity and inclusion program, BGCA used a “top down/bottom up” approach. From the bottom up, it created a pilot program by identifying five clubs that had marked success serving youths with disabilities. These clubs were teamed with local Easter Seals affiliates, school systems, agencies and community organizations, so that BGCA staff could get additional training or have a place to refer kids in need. The program also tracked progress and captured “best practices.” The pilot sites provided the organization with several unique programming activities for youth with disabilities as well.
From the top down, BGCA took a step back and reviewed its mission statement and policies to help determine how the national office could be more supportive of initiatives to include young people with disabilities. To that end, Laster encouraged local clubs to sign BGCA’s Diversity Pledge. He wrote articles on the subject and also encouraged all Clubs to celebrate National Disability Awareness Month (October).
Laster then sought out alliances with Easter Seals and several like-minded foundations such as Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF), based in Arlington, VA, to expand the resources and reach of BGCA’s national-level initiatives. MEAF provides national grants to projects and organizations that are focused on the full inclusion of young people with disabilities. It was serendipitous that they were also looking to team up with a “mainstream” organization